The blueprint to success in College Football’s Transfer Portal era starts at receiver

The College Football landscape has drastically shifted over the past several years as new aspects such as NIL, Revenue Sharing, and the Transfer Portal have entered the sport. For College Football coaches and GMs, you're learning on the fly seeing what works and what hasn't and adapting as the years progress.

Every year, we start to learn a variety of things from the maret value of each position and which positions are proving to be the most impactful as transfers. We're only three weeks into the 2025 College Football season yet, it's safe to say that the lesson we're learning thus far will prove to be the formula going forward.

Wide Receivers are the most impactful addition a team could make

Among the teams that added one of On3's Top 15 ranked transfer Wide Receivers, the only team to lose a game has been Notre Dame with their addition of Malachi Fields. Part of the reason the Fighting Irish may be 0-2 is that they're not getting him the ball enough as he's averaging 15.6 yards per catch and was the best offensive player for the Irish against Texas A&M.

On the other side of the Notre Dame game, Texas A&M added two Top 15 wide receivers in KC Concepcion and Mario Craver. The Aggies new duo combined for 289 yards and a touchdown falling just short of out receiving Notre Dame's whole team by 4 yards. Craver has become one of the biggest stars of the season with outputs of 122 yards, 114 yards, and 207 yards against Notre Dame.

The top transfer wide receiver in the class was Georgia Tech's Eric Singleton Jr who signed with the Auburn Tigers. The Tigers haven't needed to air the ball out yet but, when they've gone to Singleton he's been productive and the fans are begging for more touches.

The Georgia Bulldogs landed the Nation's second ranked transfer Zachariah Branch and it paid off in a big way against Tennessee. Branch's ability to turn any touchdown into a big play came up big when the Bulldogs found him on a screen and he turned it into a 36 yard touchdown. When the Bulldogs needed a two point conversion to tie the game late, they turned to Branch who created a ton of separation to make the throw easy. The Dawgs other key addition at receiver Noah Thomas hasn't made a big impact yet but, should prove to be crucial in SEC play.

The Florida State Seminoles have only played two games but, the 4th ranked receiver to transfer Duce Robinson has made a massive impact early. Against Alabama, the Noles only threw to Robinson twice for 18 yards but, he showed how exciting he could be with 173 yards and 2 touchdowns against East Texas A&M.

The LSU Tigers are the Nation's 3rd ranked team and while they haven't clicked yet on offense, their two elite transfer receivers Barion Brown and Nic Anderson are making plays. Barion Brown had a beautiful touchdown taken off the field in a controversial call but, he's still second on the team with 145 yards. Nic Anderson is just getting going after missing last year and most of camp with an injury but, his size proved to be key in the redzone against Louisiana Tech.

Dylan Raiola clearly needed a go to wide receiver after last season and Matt Rhule and his staff delivered him one of the most underrated receivers in the Country in Dane Key. Every game thus far, Dane Key has hauled in a touchdown and as the two continue to gel, it should only get more exciting.

Mario Craver wasn't the only elite receiver to transfer from Mississippi State as Kevin Coleman Jr is still the star we saw for the Bulldogs. Coleman has been incredible in every game for Missouri but, he proved to come up the biggest when it's mattered the most with 10 catches for 126 yards and a touchdown against Kansas.

Last season at LSU, CJ Daniels was expected to be a breakout star but, a dislocated heel kept him from making the biggest impact. Now that Daniels is healthy and at Miami, he's emerging as a name to watch with 14 catches for 175 yards and 3 touchdowns one of which is the Catch of the Year.

Micah Hudson had a strange offseason as he transferred from Texas Tech to Texas A&M and then came right back to Lubbock. Thus far, Micah Hudson hasn't had his breakout with 3 catches for 31 yards but, he'll need to step up if the Red Raiders are going to win the Big 12.

Georgia Tech lost the top ranked transfer receiver and replaced him with another star in Eric Rivers from FIU. This weekend adding Rivers proved to be key as his 3 catches for 72 yards were crucial in knocking off Clemson.

Lane Kiffin is constantly rebuilding his roster via the transfer portal and this offseason he went out and landed Oklahoma State star De'Zhaun Stribling. Thus far, Stribling had a massive game against Georgia State but, hasn't made much of an impact in SEC play aside from a touchdown against Arkansas. Once Ole Miss has it's quarterback position under control, Stribling should be able to start showing the big play ability he had for the Cowboys.

When you look at the College Football landscape as a whole, 7 of the 10 leaders in receiving yards all transferred at one point. The lesson most are going to start taking away from the transfer portal is that aside from landing a quarterback, no position may be as important for success than adding an elite wide receiver.

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